4 × 100 metres relay at the World Athletics Championships explained

Event:4 × 100 metres relay
Gender:Men and women
Firstyearmen:1983
Lastyearmen:2023
Firstyearwomen:1983
Lastyearwomen:2023
Crmen:37.04 Jamaica (2011)
Crwomen:41.03 United States (2023)

The 4×100 metres relay at the World Championships in Athletics has been contested by both men and women since the inaugural edition in 1983. It is the second most prestigious title in the discipline after the 4×100 metres relay at the Olympics. The competition format typically has one qualifying round leading to a final between eight teams. As of 2015, nations can qualify for the competition through a top eight finish at the previous IAAF World Relays event, with the remaining teams coming through the more traditional route of ranking highly on time in the seasonal lists.[1] This system was modified due to the postponement of 2023 World Athletics Relays to 2024: therefore, the eight teams directly qualified are those of the 2022 World Championships, in Eugene, completed by eight more 2022-2023 top lists' teams.[2]

The championship records for the event are 37.04 seconds for men, set by Jamaica in 2011, and 41.03 seconds for women, set by the United States in 2023.[3] The men's world record has been broken or equalled at the competition on four occasions.[4] The women's world record has never been broken or equalled at the competition.

The United States is the most successful nation in the discipline, with nine men's gold medals and nine women's gold medals. The next most successful nation is Jamaica, which has won four gold medals for men's and five for the women's events. Jamaica won in 1991, 2009, 2013, 2015, and 2019. The USA has won the most overall medals at 26 with Jamaica having the second most at 24. Canada, with three golds, and France, with two, are the only other nations to have won multiple titles. Great Britain has the third highest overall medal tally in the event with 15 medals.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the most successful athlete of the event, with four gold medals and four silver medals. Her compatriot Usain Bolt is the next most successful, with four consecutive gold medals from 2009 to 2015 and a silver medal in 2007. Kerron Stewart and Nesta Carter of Jamaica and Carl Lewis of the USA are the only other athletes to have won three gold medals in the relay event.

The United States has twice been stripped of the gold medal due to doping by athletes on the national team, having lost both men's and women's titles in 2001.

Age

DistinctionMaleFemale
AthleteAgeDateAthleteAgeDate
Youngest champion20 years, 229 days4 Sep 201117 years, 248 days17 years, 248 days
Youngest medalist16 years, 305 days12 Aug 200117 years, 197 days17 years, 197 days
Youngest finalist16 years, 277 days22 Aug 199317 years, 66 days17 years, 66 days
Youngest participant15 years, 174 days2 Aug 200116 years, 133 days16 years, 133 days
Oldest champion37 years, 237 days5 Oct 201935 years, 144 days30 Aug 2003
Oldest medalist40 years, 274 days31 Aug 200337 years, 344 days22 Aug 2009
Oldest finalist40 years, 274 days31 Aug 200337 years, 344 days22 Aug 2009
Oldest participant40 years, 274 days31 Aug 200343 years, 111 days29 Aug 2003

Doping

The men's event was affected by doping in its debut tournament in 1983, with Ben Johnson running for Canada, although the team did not progress beyond the first round. Johnson's drug use was only self-admitted during this period and he did not fail a drug test that year. Johnson ran for the fourth-placed Canada team at the 1987 event. His Canadian team mate Angella Issajenko later became the first female relay athlete to be sanctioned – she helped Canada to fifth at the same edition.

The positive drug test for Nigeria's Innocent Asonze in 1999 marked the first instance where a medal-winning team was disqualified at the World Championships in Athletics. Brazil was elevated to the bronze medal as a result. Doping persisted two years later, as France's Christophe Cheval was disqualified after a positive test for nandrolone shortly before the event (the team were semi-finalists only).[6] The greatest disqualifications yet followed after the BALCO scandal in 2005. Tim Montgomery of the 2001-winning men's team was later disqualified following his admission of doping during the period, meaning that the American gold medallists were stricken from the record (South Africa were elevated as champions).[7] Similarly, Marion Jones's and Kelli White's admitted usage led to the disqualification of the winning American women's team (Germany were made champions as a result).

The impact of the BALCO scandal extended to the 2003 edition, as medals were again reassigned as a result of British athlete Dwain Chambers doping. Brazil were elevated to silver and the Netherlands became the bronze medallists. The next doping disqualification to occur in the relay was in 2009, when Nigerian women's runner Toyin Augustus had her team's first round result annulled. A similar fate met Lim Hee-Nam and the South Korean men in 2011. The fourth-placed Trinidad and Tobago team had their result retrospectively disqualified due to Semoy Hackett's failed doping test prior to the competition.[8] A third straight championships was affected as a result of Ukraine's Yelyzaveta Bryzhina failing a doping test for drostanolone (as of 2015 the Ukrainian relay team's first round result still stands, however).[9]

Medalists

Men

Multiple medalists

RankAthleteNationPeriodGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 2007–2017 4 1 0 5
2 2007–2015 3 1 0 4
3 1983–1991 3 0 0 3
4 2017–2023 2 2 0 4
5 2007–2015 2 1 0 3
2019–20232 1 0 3
7 1993–1997 2 0 1 3
1993–1997 2 0 1 3
1993–1997 2 0 1 3
10 1983–1993 2 0 0 2
1991–1993 2 0 0 2
1991–1993 2 0 0 2
1991–1993 2 0 0 2
1993–1999 2 0 0 2
1995–1997 2 0 0 2
2003–2007 2 0 0 2
2009–2011 2 0 0 2
2009–2011 2 0 0 2
19 2015–2019 1 2 0 3
2015–2019 1 2 0 3
2017–2022 1 1 1 3
2017–2022 1 1 1 3
23 2007–2009 1 1 0 2
2007–2009 1 1 0 2
25 2013–2022 1 0 2 3
26 2015–2022 1 0 1 2
2015–2022 1 0 1 2
28 2001–2009 0 3 0 3
2001–2009 0 3 0 3
30 2001–2005 0 2 0 2
31 1999–2009 0 1 3 4
32 1991–1997 0 1 2 3
33 1983–1987 0 1 1 2
1983–1987 0 1 1 2
1991–1993 0 1 1 2
1991–1993 0 1 1 2
1991–1993 0 1 1 2
1995–2001 0 1 1 2
1997–1999 0 1 1 2
1997–1999 0 1 1 2
1999–2005 0 1 1 2
2019–2022 0 1 1 2
43 2005–2007 0 0 2 2
2005–2007 0 0 2 2
2013–2015 0 0 2 2
2017–2019 0 0 2 2
2017–2019 0 0 2 2

Medals by country

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 9 3 0 12
2 4 1 2 7
3 3 0 3 6
4 1 3 6 10
5 1 2 0 3
6 1 0 0 1
7 0 3 0 3
8 0 2 1 3
9 0 1 1 2
0 1 1 2
0 1 1 2
12 0 1 0 1
0 1 0 1
14 0 0 2 2
150 0 1 1
0 0 1 1

Women

Multiple medalists

RankAthleteNationPeriodGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 2007–2023 4 4 0 8
2 2007–2015 3 2 0 5
3 2007–2017 3 1 0 4
4 2015–2023 2 1 1 4
5 1995–2003 2 1 0 3
2003–2007 2 1 0 3
7 2007–2011 2 0 0 2
2022–2023 2 0 0 2
2022–2023 2 0 0 2
10 1991–2005 1 3 2 6
11 2005–2015 1 3 0 4
12 1983–1997 1 2 1 4
13 1999–2003 1 2 0 3
2005–2015 1 2 0 3
2019–2023 1 2 0 3
2015–2023 1 2 0 3
17 1983–1995 1 1 2 4
1991–2001 1 1 2 4
19 1997–2003 1 1 1 3
1997–2003 1 1 1 3
1997–2003 1 1 1 3
1999–2009 1 1 1 3
23 1983–1987 1 1 0 2
1983–1987 1 1 0 2

1991–1993 1 1 0 2

1991–1993 1 1 0 2
1993–1995 1 1 0 2
1993–1997 1 1 0 2
1999–2009 1 1 0 2
1999–2009 1 1 0 2
1997–2003 1 1 0 2
2003–2007 1 1 0 2
2007–2013 1 1 0 2
2007–2009 1 1 0 2
2011–2013 1 1 0 2
2015–2022 1 1 0 2
2019–2022 1 1 0 2
38
1987–1993 1 0 1 2
2001–2009 1 0 1 2
40 2013–2019 0 2 1 3
2015–2023 0 2 1 3
2017–2023 0 2 1 3
43 2013–2015 0 2 0 2
2022–2023 0 2 0 2
45 1993–1995 0 1 1 2
1997–2001 0 1 1 2
2013–2019 0 1 1 2
2015–2023 0 1 1 2
2019–2023 0 1 1 2
50 1993–2001 0 0 2 2

Medals by country

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 9 4 1 14
2 5 7 517
3 1 2 1 4
4 1 1 0 2
1 1 0 2
6 1 0 4 5
7 1 0 1 2
8 0 3 2 5
9 0 1 1 2
10 0 0 1 1
0 0 1 1
0 0 1 1
0 0 1 1

Championship record progression

Men

Men's 4×100 metres relay World Championships record progression[10]
TimeNationAthletesYearRoundDate
39.22 Andreas Knebel, Thomas Schröder, Jens Hübler, Frank EmmelmannHeats 9 August
38.75 Emmit King, Willie Gault, Calvin Smith, Carl LewisHeats 9 August
38.62 Andrey Prokofyev, Nikolay Sidorov, Vladimir Muravyov, Viktor BryzginSemi-finals 10 August
38.50 Emmit King, Willie Gault, Calvin Smith, Carl LewisSemi-finals 10 August
37.86 Emmit King, Willie Gault, Calvin Smith, Carl LewisFinal 10 August
37.75 Andre Cason, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Michael MarshSemi-finals 31 August
37.50 Andre Cason, Leroy Burrell, Dennis Mitchell, Carl LewisFinal 1 September
37.40 Jon Drummond, Andre Cason, Dennis Mitchell, Leroy BurrellSemi-finals 21 August
37.31 Usain Bolt, Michael Frater, Steve Mullings, Asafa PowellFinal 22 August
37.04 Nesta Carter, Michael Frater, Yohan Blake, Usain BoltFinal 4 September

Women

Women's 4×100 metres relay World Championships record progression[11]
TimeNationAthletesYearRoundDate
43.06 Joan Baptiste, Kathy Smallwood-Cook, Beverley Callender, Shirley ThomasHeats 10 August
42.59 Silke Gladisch-Möller, Marita Koch, Ingrid Auerswald-Lange, Marlies Oelsner-GöhrHeats 10 August
41.76 Silke Gladisch-Möller, Marita Koch, Ingrid Auerswald-Lange, Marlies Oelsner-GöhrFinal 10 August
41.58 Alice Brown, Diane Williams, Florence Griffith Joyner, Pam MarshallFinal 6 September
41.49 Olga Bogoslovskaya, Galina Malchugina, Natalya Voronova, Irina PrivalovaFinal 22 August
41.49 Michelle Finn, Gwen Torrence, Wendy Vereen, Gail DeversFinal 22 August
41.47 Chryste Gaines, Marion Jones, Inger Miller, Gail DeversFinal 9 August
41.29 Carrie Russell, Kerron Stewart, Schillonie Calvert, Shelly-Ann Fraser-PryceFinal 18 August
41.07 Veronica Campbell-Brown, Natasha Morrison, Elaine Thompson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-PryceFinal 29 August
41.03Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, Gabrielle Thomas, Sha'Carri Richardson2023Final26 August

Finishing times

Top ten fastest World Championship times

Fastest men's times at the World Championships[12]
RankTime (sec)NationAthletesGamesRoundDate
1 37.04 Final4 September
2 37.10 Final5 October
3 37.31 Final 22 August
4= 37.36 Nesta Carter, Kemar Bailey-Cole, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain BoltFinal 18 August
4= 37.36 Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Nickel Ashmeade, Usain BoltFinal 29 August
4= 37.36 Adam Gemili, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty, Nethaneel Mitchell-BlakeFinal5 October
7 37.38 Final26 August
8 37.40 Semi-finals23 August
9 37.41 Nesta Carter, Asafa Powell, Rasheed Dwyer, Nickel AshmeadeHeats29 August
10 37.43 Final5 October
Fastest women's times at the World Championships[13]
RankTime (sec)NationAthletesGamesRoundDate
1 41.03 Tamari Davis, Twanisha Terry, Gabrielle Thomas, Sha'Carri RichardsonFinal26 August
2 41.07 Final29 August
3 41.14 Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Jenna Prandini, Twanisha TerryFinal23 July
4 41.18 Kemba Nelson, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shericka JacksonFinal23 July
5 41.21 Natasha Morrison, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Shashalee Forbes, Shericka JacksonFinal26 August
6 41.29 Carrie Russell, Kerron Stewart, Schillonie Calvert, Shelly-Ann Fraser-PryceFinal 18 August
7 41.44 Final5 October
8 41.47 Gail Devers, Inger Miller, Marion Jones, Chryste GainesFinal9 August
9= 41.49 Olga Bogoslovskaya, Galina Malchugina, Natalya Voronova, Irina PrivalovaFinal22 August
9= 41.49 Michelle Finn, Gwen Torrence, Wenda Vereen, Gail DeversFinal22 August

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.iaaf.org/download/downloadresultinfo?filename=544c7d0a-0807-4226-a85b-79928c58a097.pdf&urlslug=Entry%20standards%20-%20IAAF%20World%20Championships%2C%20Beijing%202015 Qualification System and Entry Standards (as approved by IAAF Council in April and November 2014
  2. News: World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 Qualification System – Amended . iaaf.org. 7 June 2023.
  3. http://www.iaaf.org/records/by-category/championships-records#results-tab-sub=1 Championships Records
  4. http://www.iaaf.org/mm/Document/06/10/33/61033_PDF_English.pdf IAAF World Championships: IAAF Statistics Handbook Daegu 2011
  5. World Athletics Championships - Budapest 23 Statistical Booklet . . 42-45.
  6. http://www.b.dk/sport/sprinter-afsloeret-med-doping Sprinter afsløret med doping
  7. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/6173566.stm SA awarded 2001 worlds gold medal
  8. http://www.trackalerts.com/index.php/news/latest-stories/6535-tat-federation-to-confirm-hacketts-positive-test-on-monday T&T federation to confirm Hackett's positive test on Monday
  9. http://www.iaaf.org/results/iaaf-world-championships-in-athletics/2013/14th-iaaf-world-championships-4873/women/4x100-metres-relay/heats/result IAAF World Championships in Athletics > 14th IAAF World Championships > 4x100 Metres Relay - women
  10. http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=WC&EventCode=MC1&P=F Main > Men, 4×100 m > World Championships Records Progression
  11. http://trackfield.brinkster.net/RecProgression.asp?RecCode=WC&EventCode=WC1&P=F Main > Women, 4×100 m > World Championships Records Progression
  12. Web site: Men's 4x100m.
  13. Web site: Women's 4x100m.

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